Google Voice

[+JohnE5]

I just got my invite to Google Voice and I selected my number (76-CACHE)!

 

Just wanted to brag a little.

 

I've been looking for a way to make a payphone cache that didn't link to my cell or home phone. Now I can have a custom greeting just for the payphone I want them to use. Everyone else will get an ominous message about being traced as a joke.

 

I could use this number for several payphones all with different messages. Any other ideas how I could use this for caching?

[+J-Way]

Payphones still exist???

 

I found one once where the first clue was a brass tag with a telephone number. You called it and got a recording in morse code. Then, unless you're one of the relatively few people who know morse code, you called it again and again and again while transcribing the dits and dahs for translation.

 

Anyways, sounds like a cool puzzle.

[+JohnE5]

I think I'll use that, thanks.

[Luckless]

I thought maybe you were thinking about having people call a number from a payphone to get a recorded message. Don't think you can have caches that reguire spending money to solve. I know you can't have a cache in a private enterprise that charges admission (yet you can have a cache in state parks that do.)

[+JJTally]

I agree, Google Voice is pretty sweet. And a very interesting idea you have there. We have a cache in town at the zoo that requires you to pay to enter the zoo. I don't think a couple of cents would really be a problem with cachers, after all, how much do we spend on gas?

[+JohnE5]

Some ones getting paid, be it a pay phone or cell phone company or the company you get the internet from. Even if I allowed calls from any number, someone has to pay for it.

[+Arrow42]

I just got my invite to Google Voice and I selected my number (76-CACHE)!

 

Just wanted to brag a little.

 

I've been looking for a way to make a payphone cache that didn't link to my cell or home phone. Now I can have a custom greeting just for the payphone I want them to use. Everyone else will get an ominous message about being traced as a joke.

 

I could use this number for several payphones all with different messages. Any other ideas how I could use this for caching?

 

Hehe nice number.

 

I use mine (916-585-DORK) as a way to give people my cell phone number for cache hints without actually giving them something traceable to me/my employer.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

Some ones getting paid, be it a pay phone or cell phone company or the company you get the internet from. Even if I allowed calls from any number, someone has to pay for it.

Someone's paying for the car I drive to the cache too, but that isn't the same as saying I *have* to rent a particular car to get there.

 

Your pay phone idea could fall under the "charging admission" part of the guidelines.

[+bittsen]

Some ones getting paid, be it a pay phone or cell phone company or the company you get the internet from. Even if I allowed calls from any number, someone has to pay for it.

Someone's paying for the car I drive to the cache too, but that isn't the same as saying I *have* to rent a particular car to get there.

 

Your pay phone idea could fall under the "charging admission" part of the guidelines.

 

You are incorrect, unless the pay phone is the ONLY number the call can be dialed from.

Assuming that any phone can call the number for the next leg, the pay phone is merely there for convenience if the cacher wants to use it. Otherwise the cacher could use their cell phone or go home and call, borrow someones phone, ask a business owner, use an online phone dialer, etc. Again, the pay phone would be for convenience if the cacher decided to use it.

[+Castle Mischief]

Some ones getting paid, be it a pay phone or cell phone company or the company you get the internet from. Even if I allowed calls from any number, someone has to pay for it.

Someone's paying for the car I drive to the cache too, but that isn't the same as saying I *have* to rent a particular car to get there.

 

Your pay phone idea could fall under the "charging admission" part of the guidelines.

 

Respectfully, I'm not buying that. There are caches in parks that you have to pay to get into (placed one myself). There are caches that require special equipment that doesn't come free. I had to pay for my GPSr, my gas, and wear and tear on my car. All of these things are many, many times more expensive than a payphone call.

 

In my mind this falls under the "if you don't want to spend the money to find it, then put it on ignore and move on."

 

Yeah, I know. Previous caches do not set precedent.

 

Bottom line- check with your reviewer before you get too deep into the details of the cache. Ultimately they, not forums members, will be approving your cache.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

Some ones getting paid, be it a pay phone or cell phone company or the company you get the internet from. Even if I allowed calls from any number, someone has to pay for it.

Someone's paying for the car I drive to the cache too, but that isn't the same as saying I *have* to rent a particular car to get there.

 

Your pay phone idea could fall under the "charging admission" part of the guidelines.

 

You are incorrect, unless the pay phone is the ONLY number the call can be dialed from.

Assuming that any phone can call the number for the next leg, the pay phone is merely there for convenience if the cacher wants to use it. Otherwise the cacher could use their cell phone or go home and call, borrow someones phone, ask a business owner, use an online phone dialer, etc. Again, the pay phone would be for convenience if the cacher decided to use it.

not according to the OP:

Now I can have a custom greeting just for the payphone I want them to use. Everyone else will get an ominous message about being traced as a joke.

To me, it appears that the incoming phone number to Google Voice determines whether you get the cache coordinates or some other message. i.e. calling from that particular phone will tell Google Voice to play the correct message.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

Some ones getting paid, be it a pay phone or cell phone company or the company you get the internet from. Even if I allowed calls from any number, someone has to pay for it.

Someone's paying for the car I drive to the cache too, but that isn't the same as saying I *have* to rent a particular car to get there.

 

Your pay phone idea could fall under the "charging admission" part of the guidelines.

 

Respectfully, I'm not buying that. There are caches in parks that you have to pay to get into (placed one myself). There are caches that require special equipment that doesn't come free. I had to pay for my GPSr, my gas, and wear and tear on my car. All of these things are many, many times more expensive than a payphone call.

 

In my mind this falls under the "if you don't want to spend the money to find it, then put it on ignore and move on."

 

Yeah, I know. Previous caches do not set precedent.

 

Bottom line- check with your reviewer before you get too deep into the details of the cache. Ultimately they, not forums members, will be approving your cache.

You buy a GPSr to go geocaching, not to find one particular cache. Same with all that other equipment. Making someone pay to find one specific cache would likely be commercial.

The geocache is presumed to be commercial if the finder is required to go inside a business, interact with employees, and/or purchase a product or service, or if the cache listing has overtones of advertising, marketing, or promotion.

Forcing someone to use a payphone instead of being allowed to use their free minutes on their cell phone could be construed as having to "purchase a...service"

[+Singletree Expedition]

Leave a container full of dimes nearby (okay quarters ). That solves the money issue.

 

Great idea using the phone. The possibilities are endless.

[+Castle Mischief]

Forcing someone to use a payphone instead of being allowed to use their free minutes on their cell phone could be construed as having to "purchase a...service"[/color]

 

Unless I borrow somebody else's phone or use the one at work, I've "purchased a service" to use my land line or my cell. They are no different in that regard. Technically, that payphone might be a "service" but for less than $1...

 

We could go back and forth on this, but ultimately, it's going to be up to the local reviewer.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

Forcing someone to use a payphone instead of being allowed to use their free minutes on their cell phone could be construed as having to "purchase a...service"[/color]

 

Unless I borrow somebody else's phone or use the one at work, I've "purchased a service" to use my land line or my cell. They are no different in that regard. Technically, that payphone might be a "service" but for less than $1...

 

We could go back and forth on this, but ultimately, it's going to be up to the local reviewer.

No, you have a cell phone for reasons entirely unrelated to geocaching. In the OP's example, the ONLY reason to spend money on the payphone is for the cache.

 

Same thing with placing a cache inside a newspaper rack instead of attaching one to the outside - there's a fee involved to find the cache.

[+Arrow42]

Just provide an alternate way to get the coords if someone doesn't feel like paying for a payphone and it suddenly not a "requirement".

[+ZSandmann]

Semi-on topic, can I get an invite

[+9Key]

Here's a phone cache for you (and it's free!): 20 Questions

 

If you'd like to know how to set one up just let me know.

[+JohnE5]

Semi-on topic, can I get an invite

As of right now there are no invites to send out. Once they come online I'll send them out.

[+mchaos]

whats a payphone?

[+Arrow42]

whats a payphone?

 

They keep them next to the record players and betamax tapes.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

whats a payphone?

 

It's a new category on Waymarking.com

[+RIclimber]

Here's a phone cache for you (and it's free!): 20 Questions

 

If you'd like to know how to set one up just let me know.

Looks fun, how did you do it?

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Here's a phone cache for you (and it's free!): 20 Questions

 

If you'd like to know how to set one up just let me know.

Looks fun, how did you do it?

 

Interactive Voice Response (IVR). You know those voice enabled phone trees that seem to be popular with insurance companies (but not insurance company customers)? Like that.

 

There are at least a couple free services which provide tools and will allow you to host a voice dialog on their site and at least a couple of "standard" protocols for creating a voice enabled menu. There is even a version of a browser that understands "VXML", a markup language that will allow you to create an interactive web site which allows you to enter responses via a keyboard, or via voice "commands".

 

A couple of years ago I created a proof of concept system that implemented a agriculture commodiy exhange service using IVR. The idea was that rural farmers in Africa could call a number, explain what they had to sell, how much they had, where they were located, and the price they wanted for their crop, and the voice responses would get "posted" to a website which buyers could read. Similary, sellars could call a number, answer a couple of questions, then listen to messages buyers had left which indicated what they wanted to buy, where they were located, and how much they were willing to pay.

[+JohnE5]

I wrote to a reviewer. He said that to have a payphone cache he would have to have it reviewed by an approval committee. However, if I post an alternate method for finding the final without paying the 35 cents, he would approve it on his own.

[+JohnE5]

I wrote to a reviewer. He said that to have a payphone cache he would have to have it reviewed by an approval committee. However, if I post an alternate method for finding the final without paying the 35 cents, he would approve it on his own.

[+RIclimber]

Here's a phone cache for you (and it's free!): 20 Questions

 

If you'd like to know how to set one up just let me know.

Looks fun, how did you do it?

 

Interactive Voice Response (IVR). You know those voice enabled phone trees that seem to be popular with insurance companies (but not insurance company customers)? Like that.

 

There are at least a couple free services which provide tools and will allow you to host a voice dialog on their site and at least a couple of "standard" protocols for creating a voice enabled menu. There is even a version of a browser that understands "VXML", a markup language that will allow you to create an interactive web site which allows you to enter responses via a keyboard, or via voice "commands".

 

A couple of years ago I created a proof of concept system that implemented a agriculture commodiy exhange service using IVR. The idea was that rural farmers in Africa could call a number, explain what they had to sell, how much they had, where they were located, and the price they wanted for their crop, and the voice responses would get "posted" to a website which buyers could read. Similary, sellars could call a number, answer a couple of questions, then listen to messages buyers had left which indicated what they wanted to buy, where they were located, and how much they were willing to pay.

This looks like a great way for a cache owner to set up a "phone-a-friend" for their caches. Has anyone done something like that?

[+JohnE5]

Here's a phone cache for you (and it's free!): 20 Questions

 

If you'd like to know how to set one up just let me know.

I would love to know. Maybe others would too, could you post it here?

[+Mudfrog]

Semi-on topic, can I get an invite

 

Yes, or at least i did. I read over this thread the other day and decided to go to googlevoice and see. I went ahead and signed up for an invite while there and within a day or two, got one. I wanted to stay with a local area code so it was tough finding a number that was cache related but, i did end up getting one like this,,,

 

xxx-xxx-FROG

Edited August 14, 2009 by Mudfrog

[+J-Way]

I wrote to a reviewer. He said that to have a payphone cache he would have to have it reviewed by an approval committee. However, if I post an alternate method for finding the final without paying the 35 cents, he would approve it on his own.

Technically, requiring someone to pay 35¢ (50¢ if you only have quarters, because those things don't give change), is a violation of the no-fee-required guidelines.

 

But come on... it costs some cachers more than 35¢ in gas just to crank up the cache-mobile. That money goes to oil companies.

 

Another option would be for you to purchase a $10 calling card, and have the cacher use the card to make the call from the payphone:

Stage 1a: Card with coordinates of phone

Stage 2b: Card with calling card number

Stage 2: Payphone

Stage 3: Cache

 

You run the risk of some cacher using the number to call their girlfriend/boyfriend, but you'd run the same risk if you just left a jar of quarters at the cache.

[+JohnE5]

I spoke to one of my reviewers and I am going to include an extremely difficult "free" puzzle on the cache listing. Finders can choose the hard way (a text based stereogram) or a easy but a small charge phone call.

[+TetrAmigos]

This is a genius cache idea and I applaud you for it! Will it be down in the San Diego area?

[+Arrow42]

I spoke to one of my reviewers and I am going to include an extremely difficult "free" puzzle on the cache listing. Finders can choose the hard way (a text based stereogram) or a easy but a small charge phone call.

 

Sounds like a reasonable compromise. "Hard mode" vs "Easy Mode".

[+TexasGringo]

<whats a payphone?>

 

It is a container that has a busted phone and ripped out phone books.

[+JohnE5]

I can now invite others to Google Voice. PM me if you want one.

 

By the way I found a way around the pay phone problem. An icon on a geocaching profile when clicked will call YOU then connect you to a clue FREE!